Killer Bees Are Coming For Your Pets! Everybody Panic! Please?

Government shutdowns, drug wars (Hello, Cartels.) and disease outbreaks aren’t enough to shock America’s couch potatoes anymore. “America Now”, a news digest television program that makes NBC’s “Today Show” look like hard-hitting journalism, tries to up the ante with this bit of manufactured terror: Killer bees are going to kill your dogs. Killer bees do indeed kill pets, but so do European honey bees. And chocolate. And heartworms. And snakes. And other dogs.

I actually know a vet that thinks that heartworm is a conspiracy. When he told me, I asked him if he thought that the vaccine would make my dog autistic-he didn’t get the joke.

Anarchy Pony

They certainly aren’t a conspiracy, and they are a horrific way for a dog to die. You can’t vaccinate your dog for heartworms, or at least there isn’t a vaccine I’m aware of, if there is it must be new.
Prevention depends on a monthly dosage of ivermectin(sometimes in combination with some other anti-parasite medications), a fairly common insecticide.
Treatment for an actual case is much more difficult, so research your area’s heartworm risk and medicate accordingly.
This message brought to you by your friendly neighborhood veterinary technician.